The Broken Throne
by PirateOwl
Summary: Darcy enters one of the fading portals after the Convergence, ending up on Asgard just as Loki, disguised as Odin, seals the Bifrost to keep Thor and Thanos away. As Darcy learns about Asgard and Loki plots to hold on to his new throne, an unknown foe acquires an artifact and attempts to destroy Asgard, forcing its new king and would be destroyer to become its defender.
1. Chapter 1

As the Convergence from Thor 2 wanes Darcy Lewis is sent to brief S.H.I.E.L.D. on the events of the film. After trying to give a scientific report without the science background, she seizes a chance to do what she is actually good at, studying politics. She enters one of the fading portals and ends up on Asgard when the portals close, just as Loki, still disguised as Odin, seals the Bifrost to prevent further invasion.

While Darcy learns about Asgard and Loki plots to hold on to his new kingdom, an ancient enemy has acquired an item of great power and is planning to use it to destroy Asgard, forcing its new king and would be destroyer into becoming its defender.

The story begins almost immediately after Thor: the Dark World and takes place mostly away from Earth, but will be canon compliant with Captain America: The Winter Soldier (probably including some very spoilery mentions of HYDRA later in the story,) and The Guardians of the Galaxy (although that is probably less important to this particular story.)

Very slow burn Loki redemption and Loki/Darcy.

(For anyone who is worried about my OUaT story, it has not been abandoned, but it's really slow going right now. I expect it will speed up after OUaT airs in the fall.)

* * *

Chapter 1 – Home

Darcy Lewis tried her best not to sound like an idiot. This was easier said than done. For some reason Jane had decided she would be the best one to bring in their reports to S.H.I.E.L.D..

Not for some reason, Darcy mused. Jane had her boyfriend back from outer space and wanted to spend a little quality time with him away from the men in black, not that Darcy blamed her for that. And Eric was, well, his mental state was still a little questionable. Darcy had no doubt he would be fine with time, and probably a good bit of therapy, but for now he was still having issues with the fact that laboratories are not clothing optional and it was up to her to try not to sound like an idiot while explaining science to sciency type people without actually knowing any of the science.

She didn't even have her own intern anymore. Or a boyfriend. Ian had not really been cut out for the weirdness. He signed all the nondisclosure agreements and left that morning. He even tried to talk Darcy into coming with him. It was flattering because no one had ever asked her to run away with them before. Unless you counted the very literal running away that she seemed to do a lot of ever since Jane hit Thor with the van. But she couldn't quite bring herself to leave all the weirdness behind, even though a piece of her wished she could.

So here she was, trying to explain to Dr. Banner and a lab full of S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists what Jane and Eric had learned about the Convergence, which was waning now, and only one or two portals remained open.

Fury was less than pleased about Jane's unscheduled leave of absence and also that Tony Stark hadn't deigned to show up. Something about "not doing portals." Bruce Banner was nice enough but was asking all sorts of odd questions that she didn't know the answer to. She wanted to tell him she was just a Poly-Sci student on the weirdest internship ever. She knew more about science than she had ever thought she would when she began but that wasn't saying much at all.

Fury also wanted the full report on anything Jane might have learned while in Asgard, which was apparently not a lot and kept getting annoyed because Darcy knew more about the political situation on Asgard than she did about the science. What did he expect? She wasn't a scientist and was only actually useful to Jane for anything other than friendship for maybe a few minutes a day so she had found other ways to occupy her time. Learning about Asgard, the non-science side of Asgard, was one of those ways.

So she spent the entire day feeling like she was at least two steps behind in her own report, because everyone she had spoken to for the entire day knew more about astrophysics than she did.

She spotted Director Fury when she was finally getting set to leave and jogged a half step to catch up with him. Belatedly she worried that guards or agents or Hawkeye or someone would shoot her for running toward the Director, but nothing happened. He just turned his one eye on her in surprise.

"Sir," she said, not entirely sure what the proper thing to call him was. "No one has asked me the more important questions. Not that I have all the answers or anything, I just think…" she trailed off realizing she probably didn't need to be telling Director Fury where his priorities should be.

"Oh?" he asked, arching the brow over his patch, which was a little unsettling. He probably used the expression for just that reason. "What should I have been asking you?"

"Well," she said, suppressing the urge to gulp nervously. "The important questions like 'What does Asgard want with earth?' 'Does one king actually rule over all the realms we don't know?' and 'Is an alliance with Asgard a feasible possibility?' Those seem like a lot more important questions than how a Convergence works that only happens once every thousand years or so. At least, I think they do." She took a deep breath. "I'm surprised you aren't using the last few days of the waning Convergence to send someone to Asgard as an observer to learn more about their culture and try to establish diplomatic ties. Dr. Banner said something about having stabilized one of the portals for study and it should last for at least another day. Being on good terms with a people that powerful is always a good idea." She realized she was rambling and shut up.

Fury looked at her for a long moment like she was the alien. "You want to _talk _to the Asgardians?" he asked, as though the very idea were incomprehensible. Not distasteful, just so strange it would never have crossed his mind.

"Yes," Darcy said reasonably. "Well, not me exactly. We. Not you and me. That would be silly. You have another job and I have…" she didn't really know what she had, but there was probably something that disqualified her. Like her complete lack of qualifications. "We as a species I guess. Someone should."

"I have a lot of real problems to deal with. When aliens bring their wars to my front door it tends to give me extra work. If you want to go to Asgard to talk and have them send you back down to earth as soon as they see you, be my guest. Otherwise, stick to… whatever it is you do and stop wasting my time." With that, Fury entered his office, leaving her in the hall alone.

"This is…" she tried to call after him. "… What I do," she added lamely after the door closed.

Wait, had Fury actually offered her a job as a diplomat to another realm? Technically, he had, she realized with a start. He had only said it because he didn't think she would take him seriously and he just wanted her out of his metaphorical hair, but still.

It was sort of a dream job for Darcy, just not yet. She needed a lot more experience to be qualified, maybe an internship somewhere reasonably and sane, the U.N. maybe, where wars that started would be limited to one plane of existence, a place where she would get the requisite political experience.

She chided herself for even thinking about it. He hadn't meant the offer anyway. Then she chided herself for not thinking about it because it was the perfect job. Then she circled back around to chiding herself for thinking about it again because it wasn't really an option. She was just the intern who ran to get things for Jane, she wasn't the one who had adventures and went too far off realms.

_Stick to… whatever it is you do._

"Well Director," she said aloud to the empty hallway. "This is what I do." Or at least it was what I was planning to do, before an alien fell out of the sky, she added silently, but then she realized that diplomat to an alien world hadn't even been on the table before Thor fell out of the sky.

She called Jane, because she figured she should call somebody, given that she could hardly tell Fury the truth because he might rescind the offer. Then she realized her phones were probably tapped so she really couldn't say anything to Jane either.

"Hey Darcy," Jane said brightly. "How did it go at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"About as well as you expect when the non-scientist is trying to teach a bunch of scientists about science-y stuff," Darcy said. "Actually, you're teaching Thor about earth-ish stuff so I'm guessing yours is about the same but better company."

"Don't do that," Jane called, presumably to Thor. "You'll start a fire." Then to Darcy, "He's trying to learn how to use the toaster."

"You should probably supervise that pretty closely," Darcy said with a laugh. "As god of thunder he can't electrocute himself, right? Look, Jane, there's, um, there's… something's come up that I really wanted to talk to you but kind of can't for… reasons. But if everything goes right I have this amazing job opportunity and may be kinda be off the grid, and I mean way off the grid, for a while."

"What kind of…?" Jane began but Darcy cut her off.

"Like I said, I can't really talk about it. You kinda work for S.H.I.E.L.D. too so you understand how the best opportunities sometimes are the kind you really can't talk about, especially on the phone to someone halfway around the world. I don't really know how long I'll be gone either. I just sort of wanted to say goodbye because I won't get another chance for us to talk for a while if this works out."

"And if it doesn't?" Jane asked, a concerned edge to her voice.

"Pretty much nothing happens. A few people are probably going to be kind a mad at me and I will turn up at the lab as usual. It's not like it's really a dangerous job, just one that's really far off the grid. Really far," she repeated, hoping that Jane would get it and see what a great opportunity it was.

"Ok," Jane said slowly. "Would it be too much to ask you to take some equipment and get some readings while you are off the grid?"

Darcy almost laughed. "No, I think I can do that. Text me a wish list and I'll bring what I can, but I can't really bring a ton of stuff with me, so smaller is better."

So, a few hours later, she packed everything she would need, including some science equipment form Jane and Erik's lab, into two large suitcases and headed for Banner's lab, the one with the semi-stable portal.

That was the advantage of technically being a S.H.I.E.L.D. intern. Sure, there was an unreasonable amount of paperwork and a staggering number of rules about who was allowed to know what, but she had this shining little badge that would get her into about half the labs, including all the Asgardian related ones. It felt a little illegal, using it this way, in the middle of the night. Actually, she had been to the lab plenty of times at night because astrophysicists tend to study the stars at night. Go figure. But this was different and probably slightly illegal, even if Fury technically told her to do it. Which was why she was here in the middle of the night with two bags instead of at a reasonable time with… well actually she didn't have that much stuff so two bags would still have been enough.

She had left notes in her room, so that if this worked people would know where she went. One very generic letter to her parents telling them not to worry because she had that internship with the government and would be out of touch for a while, one formal letter for Director Fury, informing him that she had taken his advice and gone to Asgard, and one for Jane, giving her more information about where she was going, although she was a little light on the why because she hadn't figured that completely out herself. She left them in her room so that, if Fury was right and they sent her right back, she could destroy the letters and resume her life and pretend that she hadn't snuck into a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility at night to use a portal to Asgard behind everyone's backs.

She half hoped that she would be sent back for just that reason, because she felt she needed to try this, to be more than the non-science intern in a lab she didn't fully understand, trying to catch at least a few of the words that the scientists said. Even if it didn't work, it would prove to herself that she was more than someone waiting for aliens to drop out of the sky. This time she would be the alien dropping out of the sky.

* * *

Loki's first act as king was to seal the Bifrost. With his magic he could unseal it of course, but no one else could and he had plenty of reasons to want it closed. Thor and Thanos were just the very top of the list. People had wondered but said nothing. He had preempted their questions with some nonsense about focusing on problems nearer to home and rebuilding after the destruction wreaked upon the city. Besides, he had his own ways in and out of the city, should the need arise.

Being All-Father is surprisingly boring work. Loki had given so much thought to acquiring the throne, he had never really stopped to think what to actually do with it. He'd had it before of course, but they were at war with the Frost Giants at the time and it had only been a brief time anyway. He sat on the massive throne and wondered, and not for the first time, if he shouldn't have made the All-Father rebuild the city before seizing the throne.

He bade the architects leave him. It had been a grueling day, but he insisted on seeing to the planning personally. Not because the All-Father would have done so, Loki was certain Odin All-Father had never so much as spoken to an architect in all his days, but because Loki wanted a say in the city's design in order to prepare a defense. And to leave room for his own special touches, passages that would only open for the king of mischief.

Loki smiled to himself, the expression entirely masked by the All-Father's face. He liked the title, King of Mischief. Perhaps someday people would know him by that name rather than by Odin's name. He gripped the arm of the throne angrily at the thought of Odin, the man he had once called father. The price of the throne, perhaps even of life, was to wear the All-father's face. There had been a time, and not so very long ago, that he looked up to Odin and Thor, would have given anything to be worthy, to be like them. But now it grated at him.

He glanced down and realized he had scratched furrows in the arm of the golden throne. When the All-Father was angry he would slam his fist against the arm sometimes and it never appeared the worse for it, but Loki had the throne for all of three days and the chair was already showing signs of wear. It could survive the fury of Odin but not the madness of Loki apparently. Not madness, he corrected himself; his was fury too, apparently more effective than the All-Father's. Against the furniture at any rate.

Allowing the illusion drop for a moment, he tried to image that someday it would always be like this, that he would have the throne in his own name, no illusions, no tricks. He used to find that dream easy, but now it seemed strangely out of reach. Even as king he still had to stand in another's shadow. He laughed mirthlessly at the thought. Loki Odinson, Laufeyson, it didn't really matter. He would always be in their shadows.

He wrapped himself in the All-Father's image again, but beneath the illusion his pale fingers clawed again at the arm of the throne as though trying to dig out of a cage.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Before the Storm

Darcy managed to get the lab to herself for a few minutes. It was remarkably easy. All she had to do was bring pizza and tell the late shift of scientists that it was for them and they had to eat if they were going to be here this late. Getting distracted scientists to step away from their work long enough for a little food was one of the skills Darcy had picked up being the assistant to two easily distracted scientists. It was one of the few things she was better at than anyone else she knew. She stepped through the portal as soon as she was alone. It was a really disorienting way to travel, not quite painful but definitely leaning in that direction.

From everything Darcy had heard about Asgard, she was expecting a city. What she got was a lovely countryside, rolling hills, occasional trees, more the sort of place she would go for a picnic rather than somewhere for Norse gods to live. She worried she had somehow ended up in the wrong realm, but then again, Earth has cities and picnic spots; she reasoned that Asgard is allowed to have cities and picnic spots too. And in its defense, they were lovely picnic spots. There was even a waterfall.

Darcy began to suspect that she hadn't actually though this through sufficiently. She had no idea where she was or the name of the city she was trying to reach. This was oddly comforting to Darcy because she knew pretty much all the cultural information about Asgard that anyone had on earth; if Darcy didn't know it, no one did. And someone should know, ergo it had been necessary to step through the portal in order to find important information, instead of a colossal mistake that she wouldn't have made if she hadn't been jet-lagged and battered by science. And if it was necessary then she could quit worrying and just plunge ahead, wherever that was.

She sort of wandered for a while, realizing she was completely lost. It was dark over here too and she didn't even know where her portal was. She started carving x's into trees, not for any particular reason, but because that's what people who are lost are supposed to do. She was somewhat relieved that she was not going in circles, but, given that she didn't know that forward was the right direction, this realization didn't seem incredibly helpful.

When she heard horses her first instinct was to hide. Then a more rational thought occurred to her: that she was lost and whoever was approaching might know where they were. So, with some hesitation, she approached the sound.

There were four riders and to Darcy's great relief she recognized them. They were the odd group who had come to New Mexico to help Thor shortly before the robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still showed up and nearly killed Thor. Well, technically it might have actually killed Thor, but he was currently alive so that was just splitting hairs. They were Thor's friends which meant they were okay in Darcy's book. And, they found her before she encountered anything not okay, which made them way better than okay.

She waved to them but they were already heading over.

"Lady Darcy," Fandral greeted her with a smile. She wondered if there was some law that only hot guys were allowed in Asgard.

"Hi," Darcy said, as though seeing them here in the woods on Asgard wasn't entirely bizarre. Admittedly, them being in the woods on Asgard was less strange than her being there. "Long time no see."

"What are you doing in Asgard?" Sif asked. "Did you fall through one of the portals?"

"Sorta. Kinda. Not exactly," Darcy said. She took a deep breath. "I came here on purpose. I wanted to learn about Asgard. I figured I could come here for a little while and get a few of my questions answered. I mean technically my job is to open diplomatic relations, but even if I can get the answers to just a few questions before they send me back it'll be a worthwhile trip. Not that I'm saying you should send me back," she added hastily. "I don't want you too."

The Warriors Three and Sif exchanged glances. It was Volstagg who finally spoke.

"We can't send you back," he said softly.

"Because it wouldn't be fair after I've gone to the effort of getting here, so you're going to let me stay for a while?" she asked hopefully, not liking the tone in Volstagg's voice.

"No," Sif replied. "What he means is that Odin All-Father sealed the Bifrost three days ago. There is no way to send you home, either now or when you wish it. I am sorry."

"Oh. Well… it's a good thing I was planning on staying a while," she said, hoping she herself would believe it.

"We should get back to the city," Fandral said. "I offer you a seat on my horse Lady Darcy."

Darcy smiled but Sif spoke up. "Don't encourage him. You can ride with me." Darcy grumbled under her breath about no one objecting to Jane riding with Thor, but she accepted the woman's offered hand. She expected to have to climb onto the horse, but Sif lifted her without difficulty and swung her up to the seat behind herself.

They rode out of the woods and reached a road. And farms. She had sort of thought they magic-ed their food into existence. The fact that there were fields with animals and crops was bizarre for its normalcy. Darcy didn't think she approved. She liked Asgard as the magical place that crazy hot Vikings occasionally fell from. This was almost like something she could drive a few hours on earth for. She didn't like Asgard being so practical and normal.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"Heimdall has been observing the portals to make sure no one accidentally gets in or out where they shouldn't be," Sif replied.

"Good. Wait, I didn't see any equipment anywhere. How did he know?"

"Heimdall sees all," Volstagg said in a hushed tone.

"Except for the stuff he doesn't," Fandral pointed out. "Over the past few years I've lost track of how many things he hasn't seen."

"Don't speak that way about him," Volstagg said.

"So he can just see us? Like, right now?" Darcy asked. She sort of waved at empty air. "Thanks for finding me. I was totally lost."

* * *

"My king," Heimdall said. Loki frowned, his attention snapping back from a fluctuation in the magic of the city. He had been picking up on them for a few days, nearly since taking the throne. It wasn't much, just a slight shift in the energies that he manipulated, similar to the disruption caused by the presence of a powerful sorcerer or an artifact of great potency.

"Yes Heimdall. I am aware that you do not agree with my decision to seal the BiFrost. I do not intend to change my mind," Loki said from behind the All-Father's face. Heimdall was one of the few he truly considered a possible threat to his new position.

"My king, I am here for another reason. I watch all the Realms, including Asgard, and I have seen a stranger here who came through the last open portal. Something one of the Midgardian scientists did kept it from closing as swiftly as the others. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three have gone to retrieve her, but you commanded me to inform you if there were any strangers in the Realm. However, while she is stranger to most here, she is not a stranger to Asgard. She is a friend of Jane Foster."

"A friend of Jane Foster? She and her friends should be more careful around portals," Loki said, barely masking his smirk behind the illusion.

"The lady Darcy is different. I observed her at the moment she entered the portal. Her actions were deliberate. I do not know her reasons, but I know she is here by her own decision."

"Interesting. I'll find out what she wants. Thank you Heimdall." He faked the All-Father's smile as the man left.

"Bring the… guest to me as soon as she arrives in the city," he directed the guards. He almost said "unwanted guest," but the great Allfather would never call a guest, or son, unwanted, no matter how little he might actually wish for their presence.

His mind reeled with possible motives for the Midgardian to be here. Could Thor have doubted his story and sent the girl to watch? A temporary challenge, easily sorted out in such a dangerous city, but Loki wanted the distraction for a while anyway.

A rational thought nagged at the back of his mind that Thor wasn't really the ears everywhere sort of person. Thor took everything at face value, even Loki usually, although that flew in the face of all the evidence.

But the idea that Thor would send someone to take Loki's rightful place as king, even by proxy, had already taken root in Loki's mind. He had no doubt of his ability to persuade a complete stranger, even a suspicious stranger. In fact, if she was a spy that was all the more reason to spend time with her, let her see the All-Father at work, and keep her here long enough for her to believe him completely.

* * *

From a distance the glittering city looked like an artist's representation of heaven. Close up, it looked like a disaster zone, or at least a disaster zone after the disaster was over and cleanup had been underway for a while. It looked a little like pictures Darcy had seen on the news of New York a few months after the battle. Apparently Asgardians organized their repair work more quickly than earth did because the battle had taken place only a few days ago. Most of the debris that this much damage must have caused had been cleared away. There were scaffolds and temporary props scattered throughout the city where she could see, and there were stacks of building materials, mostly stone and metal, all around the buildings. Some of them had tent-like flaps over broken walls, presumably to keep out the rain.

As they drew even nearer she could see the charred pieces of wooden buildings, perhaps homes destroyed in the battle. A battle to save Jane, she realized with a start.

She had known there had been a battle, and that people had been killed, in the same abstract way that she knew about the battle of Hastings or the beach at Normandy. It was factual, and technically it was quite important, but it was so abstract it didn't really matter to her day to day life, and it was hard to believe it mattered to anyone's day to day life. But these were real homes, presumably belonging to real people and they had been really destroyed because Jane had been possessed by the crazy red smoke.

Like the farms, it gave Asgard the air of being a real solid place, where people were born and grew up and went about some form of ordinary lives. And died. With all their power, their magic, or science, or whatever it was, there was still so much damage. It made Darcy wonder how many had died protecting her friend, or died because they were in the city with her. She could have asked, but suspected that she was probably happier not knowing.

* * *

"He wants to see me now?" Darcy asked the guard. "Its… I don't actually know what time it is. What time is it?"

"It's the middle of the third watch, or thereabout," Volstagg offered, entirely unhelpfully.

"You're invited to see the king, who hasn't been seeing anyone since the battle, and your first question is what time it is?" Fandral asked.

"Well, it's a reasonable question," Darcy said, a little defensively. "And not much of an answer. But why would he want to see me anyway?"

"It's been centuries since Asgard last had a mortal visitor," Sif explained. "But now you are the second in a week. Jane foster was possessed by an ancient evil and the Dark Elves invaded to try to kill her." She gestured at the half repaired damage. "The All-Father probably wishes to avoid a similar outcome."

"That sounds reasonable," Darcy agreed. "But now? I'm not dressed to meet a god. Or a king. Or an All-Father. Or whoever."

"There is no particular dress code," Sif pointed out.

"And you look lovely," Fandral said.

"Aww, thanks," Darcy said. "But that doesn't mean it's appropriate to meet the king. This is jeans and a sweater. I look lovely in a swim suit, doesn't mean I'm wearing that to first contact. And I'm clearly not qualified for first contact diplomacy. I can't wear jeans to meet Odin."

"That's alright. No one on Asgard actually knows what Midgardians would consider appropriate for this sort of meeting," Sif assured her. "Whatever you wish you could wear would look equally strange here."

"So I'll look weird all the time. Okay that's… actually it's kinda comforting. Thanks." She took a deep breath and stepped into the hall.

* * *

"My king," one of the guards said, entering the throne room and bowing. "Lady Sif and the Warriors three have returned with your guest."

"Send her in," he directed. He had no doubt that, as king, he should deal with the situation caused by the newcomer, and he was really growing bored by overseeing the rebuilding of the city, although he was better suited to the task than most Asgardians because he could focus for more than a few minutes on important details that did not involve blood or weapons.

That said, he did not relish a meeting with the Warriors Three, especially Sif. The shieldmaiden knew the All-Father better than nearly anyone. In many ways Sif had been like a second son to Odin, the warrior Loki had never been. If anyone currently in Asgard would see he was not truly Odin, it would be her. So far he had avoided her, and most others. He didn't really enjoy pretending to be the All-Father anyway so he allowed people to think he had retreated into his grief following Frigga's death.

"You always did think I should be more like you," Loki said to empty air, adjusting the illusion so he appeared to be wearing the All-Father's armor. "Be careful what you wish for." It was less satisfying than it would have been saying it to Odin's face, or for that matter around anyone who could either appreciate or object to it.

He had thought, more than once, about finding a way to transfer power to himself, wearing his own face. It would be easy, in its way. He could "return" and the All-Father would be relieved, out of character perhaps, but he felt certain he could pull it off. He would of course be able to find a way to convince Thor to abdicate permanently, something to do with the mortal he was so fond of probably, and after that he could, as All-Father, name his only possible remaining child as heir. He would have to continue playing them both for a while but he felt certain he could pull that off easily enough. After enough time the All-Father could plan for an Odinsleep, leaving Loki in power.

It would be simple and neat and he couldn't' do it. Because it would defeat the other point of wearing the All-Father's face. He still needed to hide from The Other and his mysterious master. Loki didn't know exactly what they planned on doing to him for his failure in New York, nor did he wish to find out, so for the time being at least he would continue to wear the All-Father's face and rebuild the city to withstand any attack in case his enemies saw through the disguise and came for him.

So, with no small trepidation, he leaned back and prepared to persuade everyone that he is Odin All-Father as though his very life depended on it.

He spotted his unwanted guest immediately when she entered the hall with Sif and the Warriors Three, in a sweater and skirt shorter than was the fashion on Asgard but not so short as to be scandalous. He wondered briefly if he and Thor looked that out of place in their armor on Midgard, then quashed the thought. Gods should stand out when walking among mortals, not the other way around.

But even if she were dressed for Asgard and he weren't expecting her, he still could have spotted her by the look of awe on her face as she stared around the throne room.

"Darcy Lewis," he said aloud. "Welcome to Asgard."

"Umm, thanks. It's an honor," she said, and somewhat to his surprise she gave him her full attention, pulling herself away from staring around at the room. She curtseyed, poorly, like she wasn't used to it, and for just a moment Loki could enjoy being king and almost ignore the fact that she believed she was curtseying to the All-Father.

* * *

Darcy stared around the throne room in amazement. It didn't even look real. Not because it looked fake, but because real places weren't made of solid gold. At least in Darcy's experience. Or in places she had heard of.

She snapped her attention to Odin when he said her name. He sat in a massive throne on the far end of the room, the sort of chair that was so big that in her apartment she would consider it seating for at least three or four friends. He was holding a staff or scepter of some sort, although it looked more like a weapon than something meant for ceremony. All told, he looked like a really badass version of Santa Claus.

She curtseyed, but almost fell because she had never had a reason before.

"The rest of you may go," Odin said. She wasn't thrilled because she actually more or less knew them, but she guessed Odin was okay to, even if he did banish his son to middle of nowhere New Mexico.

"Am I safe in assuming you are another intentional accident?" Odin asked. "I have been sending people back for days. Amazing how the people who are accidentally falling into Asgard are the ones who seem to want to be here."

"Yes, rather remarkable," she agreed. "Intentional accident is a wonderful description of what I'm doing here."

"And are you aware that the portals have closed? That at this moment there is no way to send you home?"

"I was aware of that risk when I came through." But she gulped as she said it.

"And are you like the others?" he asked. "A scientist?"

"No. I'm a diplomat." It was mostly the truth, even if she was here mostly on her own initiative. "My interest in Asgard is cultural and political rather than scientific."

"You sound strangely unconcerned that you may never be able to return to Midgard," he commented.

"It's not that I don't care," Darcy said. "I have friends and family that I'll miss. But I figure I'll probably be able to go back sooner or later. I willbe able to go back sooner or later, right?" she asked, but sped on without waiting for an answer. "And I knew the risks when I took the job. I have been working for two years for a bunch of scientists who study Asgard when science isn't my specialty. I saw a chance and I took it. This is a chance to stop being the intern who gets coffee, to go out and start studying the things that I want to study."

"I know the feeling," Odin muttered.

"Of getting coffee?" she asked.

"No. We don't actually have coffee in Asgard."

"Wow, really? I should have brought you some. I'd have made a friend for life."

"Perhaps. I understand you are a friend of my… of Thor."

"Yes. Thankfully he forgave me for tasing him."

"Tasing?"

"It's kind of a Midgard weapon. I kind of hit him with it when we first met."

"You attacked Thor?" For an instant Odin looked like that was the funniest thing he had ever heard, but the look was gone in an instant.

"Well, he was freaking me out. I mean, for all I knew he was just this weird homeless guy wandering in the desert. And a Taser wasn't going to kill him, just sort of knock him out for a while."

"This is not the version of his stay on Midgard that I heard tell of," Odin said, that flicker of amusement returning.

"Did he not mention that part?" she asked with a smile.

"I can't imagine why not," he said cooly. "He was bested by a Midgardian girl he could probably pick up with one hand. Why ever would he not mention that?" He gave her another smile, and once again it vanished after a brief moment.

"Why ever not?" she agreed with a grin, mostly just relieved that Odin wasn't mad at her for having the audacity to attack his son.

"My king," a dark skinned man interrupted, hurrying into the throne room. "There is a shadow upon my sight."

Odin turned from Darcy, narrowing his eyes at the newcomer. "Where, Heimdall?" he asked.

"The Heimdall?" Darcy asked. "Cool. Thor told us about you." For an instant she was sure Odin frowned, but like most of his expressions, it flickered and was gone. He must be worried about this shadow, apparently. "It's still a little creepy that you watch people all the time though."

"Someone is shielding themselves in the Hall of Trophies," Heimdall said. That must have meant something to Odin because they both rushed out, leaving Darcy alone in the throne room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Incidents

If someone had been in the Hall of Trophies, they were long gone. Loki frowned, assessing the room, trying to find some trace. He didn't see anything unusual but he could sense lingering magic. Not much. If someone had indeed used an illusion to mask themselves from Heimdall, they had done so very efficiently.

"Have you been able to ascertain anything about the intruder?" Loki asked.

"Not yet, but I will investigate the matter fully."

"Good," Loki said. "It bodes ill when people hide themselves from your sight." However, it might keep the gatekeeper from turning that gaze to closely upon the king, which suited Loki just fine. However, while Heimdall scrutinized discrepancies in his sight there was an increased risk that he would notice one of the discrepancies created by Loki himself.

While he worried about that, Loki continued tracing the lingering magic around the room.

"The Cask of Eternal Winters," he said, stopping in front of the empty pedestal. Whether through Odin or Laufey, Loki considered the Cask rightfully his. He didn't want it per se. It was a reminder that he was a monster, a reminder of the last time he had stood in the Hall of Trophies, on the day he had learned his true parentage. But he wouldn't stand for it being stolen either. "Where is it?" he demanded.

"The intruder must have taken it," Heimdall said.

"I guessed that part," he snapped. "I want to know where it is currently and more importantly, I want ot know the identity of the thief. You said you saw a shadow? " Loki asked.

"Yes. There were portions of the room that I could not see, even when I attempted to focus my sight upon them."

"A truly skilled master of illusions leaves no such darkness upon your vision, correct?"

"True My King, but I have ever known but one who could completely cloak himself thus. Your son."

It took Loki a moment, and the realization that Thor had never successfully created an illusion in his life, to realize that Heimdall was referring to him. What surprised him was how matter-of-factly Heimdall still considered Loki the son of Odin.

He kept the mask carefully neutral, hiding his turmoil of emotion beneath the All-Father's even face. Although the emotions were too conflicting for even Loki to decide exactly what he felt about that realization.

"Yes of course," he said smoothly, working to betray no emotion in his voice either.

* * *

Darcy figured someone would come for her so she entertained herself by looking around the massive throne room. After a while she concluded that no one was coming right away so she took out her phone and started taking pictures. Not that S.H.I.E.L.D. would ever let her show them off. To anyone. Ever.

And they would probably steal her phone for good measure.

She stared at the throne for a while, then glanced at the door, then back at the throne. She took a few more paces around the room and a few more pictures but her eyes landed on the throne again.

"Not like I'm gonna get another chance," she muttered under her breath, glancing back at the door before sitting on the throne. Darcy Lewis, queen of… she couldn't actually decide. Queen of all she surveys had a nice ring to it, but was a little cliché.

She settled onto the chair in her best impersonation of some sort of imposing queen. Beneath her hands she could feel furrows in the metal. She looked down and saw deep scratches in the armrests, one of the scratches had gone clean through the gold and revealed wood underneath. Strange. Odin didn't look like the sort to scratch furrows in his furniture. He looked more like the sort to break things when he was stressed. Or for just about any occasion actually. Like Thor, but with a Pirate Santa vibe.

She looked out over the room, wondering what it would look like in its full grandeur, filled with subjects and pageantry. There would have to be pageantry in a hall this grand. It would just be a waste otherwise.

"It's alluring isn't it?" Odin's voice startled her and she jumped to her feet.

"Sorry," she said quickly "I was just…" She hesitated, looking back at the massive throne. "There really is no good explanation is there?"

"Probably not," he said, but he looked amused rather than angry. "And I should probably be a better host than to leave my guest alone when she has just arrived. Why did you sit though?"

"Um, wouldn't you?" He didn't look angry with her for her insolence so she pressed on. "I mean, if you weren't royalty and were left alone in a room with a throne and figured you would probably never in your life be that close to a throne, let alone have the chance to sit on one. It's really the only thing to do, alone in a throne room."

"You're probably right," he admitted. "You'd be amazed at the things people have done for that throne." Odin frowned. "Lied, and fought, and killed, and died. Too many to count. And all for a chair that isn't even very comfortable."

"It's no worse than the chairs in my apartment. At least it isn't made out of swords."

"Swords?"

"Like Game of Thrones? Never mind. So I didn't cause an international incident? Or an inter-realm incident?"

"No. There is no incident."

"Speaking of incident, should I be worried about someone breaking into the Hall of Trophies? Is that like a museum for dinosaur bones and pieces of the space shuttle, or is that like a place where you keep things like the Shiny Cube of Death or Jane's Deadly Sentient Mist?"

"You're a guest here; you shouldn't get involved in an internal matter."

Darcy nodded, thinking it through. She really shouldn't press, especially the thing with the throne, but she needed the answer so she pressed anyway.

"I know, but last time you had an internal matter, my best friend was possessed by Deadly Sentient Mist and England was nearly flattened by Elves in spaceships. The time before that, New York was invaded by aliens riding space whales. The time before that I nearly died in a tiny town in New Mexico when a giant robot tried to kill Thor. Internal matters here have a way of finding their way to my friends and my realm. Is this something I need to worry about?"

"There is no way for anyone to reach Midgard until I reopen the Bifrost so you have no cause to worry about your home."

"That's good. Should I worry about me?"

"You are a guest in the safest city in all the Nine Realms," he said firmly, but without actually giving an answer. This gave Darcy the sneaking suspicion that the answer was in fact yes, she should worry, but the king wasn't going to admit to being concerned because it was bad for the image. And the damage she saw when she arrived didn't really make the claim of this as the safest city very convincing. If this not-repaired-from-last-war city was the safest, Darcy would hate to see cities Odin considered dangerous.

"I had the servants prepare you a guest room," Odin continued. "The rest of your unusual situation can be sorted out in the morning over breakfast."

"Thank you," Darcy said, not entirely sure what would get sorted out, given that her back up plan of getting sent straight back was no longer an option. "Goodnight All-Father." She didn't curtsey this time, after nearly falling last time. That would take practice, preferably some place that no one, or technically just Heimdall, could see.

Loki watched her go. He looked back at the throne and shook his head a little. He should probably have given her a brief glimpse of the All-Father's anger; Odin certainly would have been angry with the girl. But Loki rather liked the way she treated wanting a throne as something natural, maybe even inevitable. As king he should discourage such thoughts early, before they grew into something dangerous, but she was a mere mortal and not worth the worry.

He sighed and settled back on the throne. He had work to do. A king's work. This would be the first real challenge for Asgard's new king.

It was a pity the two ravens that served as the All-Father's eyes and ears throughout the realms could tell the difference between the real thing and an illusion. He would very much have liked to send them to spy on people and find the missing Cask. Or maybe it was just as well. This way Loki could handle this his own way, with his own magic.

He knew he should probably get some rest before trying any scrying, but he didn't sleep much these days, and all he really needed to do was follow the magic. After nearly two hours of following a well concealed trail, he drifted off into a haunted sleep.

* * *

Darcy stared around her room for a while in amazement. She traveled a lot with Jane and the accommodations ranged from the trailer they lived in sometimes to slightly skeevy hotel rooms. The only time Darcy had ever even seen rooms this nice was on a tour of Buckingham palace.

She hoped that she could get back home eventually but was in no hurry. She could happily stay here in palaces like this for quite a while longer. She set up the equipment for Jane and Eric then flopped back on the giant bed, hoping she hadn't blown her chance by sitting on the throne. But really, who wouldn't? she mused.

The matter of the Hall of trophies still worried her a little, but she figured the local warrior population would sort it out before it ever troubled her. Hopefully.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Unexpected Visitors

Darcy didn't know what time it was when someone knocked on her door because her watch didn't seem to like Asgard much. It must have been morning because light shone through the window, although her watch claimed it was a little after two. If her watch was right, she suspected that the jet lag was going to catch up to her really fast.

"Come in," Darcy said, figuring her usual "door's open" would be a little too casual for an amazing palace like this. She had her luggage open on the bed and its contents, three changes of clothing, a lab coat, an extra pair of shoes, a little makeup, a cellphone, and a couple of books, spread across the bed from when Darcy rifled for the right clothes. She really wished she had something nicer to wear.

A stranger stood in the doorway, long blond hair contrasting with a simple dark dress. "I am Volla. I oversee the palace maidservants, and will aid you until more permanent arrangements are made," she said with a curtsey.

"So, opinion." She held up her little black dress and her sweater up in front of herself. The woman looked completely baffled by both outfits. "Never mind. So, what does a maidservant do?"

"Assist you in dressing." She was giving Darcy's clothing a skeptical look, probably trying to figure out how to help with them. "Make sure you have everything you need while you are a guest in the house of Odin."

"Cool. I've never had a maidservant to help me before. Although I can get dressed by myself. I do need directions to breakfast though. Or a map. Or something." There was a screen stretching across part of the room and she stepped behind it to dress. "So how did I warrant the boss's help?" she asked.

"I have… found myself in need of new tasks," she said sadly. "Since my Queen's passing."

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry."

"It is not your doing. She fought and faced her death with honor and waits for us all in Valhalla."

Darcy didn't know what to say to that so she just nodded. "She saved my friend's life," she said softly.

"You know the other mortal who visited?"

"Yeah. Jane's my friend, and kinda my boss too, technically."

"There are some people that it is a true honor to serve," Volla said with a sad smile. "The Lady Jane was the first mortal to visit Asgard for centuries."

"Centuries? Really? That's awesome. I guess that makes us the Armstrong and Aldren of realm travel." She stepped out from behind the screen and saw the blank look on the woman's face. "But I guess the guys who landed on Earth's, Midgard's, moon aren't a big deal here. That makes sense I guess. Interning with astrophysicists, they're kind of a big deal."

Volla smiled. "You are an explorer then?"

"Me? No. I just seized an opportunity. And before you ask, I have no idea why. I just thought someone should and no one else was going to."

"That sounds like an explorer to me," the woman said with a smile.

* * *

Loki was falling. No, falling was the wrong word for this sort of weightless drifting, with nothing but his own thoughts and the endless void. He tried to reach out, to find something, anything to break his slow fall.

_"No Loki."_

He woke with a start from another nightmare. He had apparently fallen asleep in the throne room the night before and stayed there through what was left of the night.

Looking down, he frowned when he saw a smear of blood on the arm of the throne. He had clawed at the arm of the chair until gold gave way to wood, and wood began to splinter, tearing his nails and bloodying the tips of his fingers.

Waving one of his bloodied hands, the Allfather illusion shimmered to life over Loki. It created a safe distance between the failed prince and the challenges he had to face, created the illusion of control. Sometimes it could almost trick the Trickster himself into believing it. He had somewhere to be soon and didn't have time to let a dream get to him.

Loki avoided feasts. He always had, even before the ill-fated trip to Jotunheim when everything started falling apart, because he had never seen the point of sitting around quaffing mead and telling tales of battle exploits, especially given that the Aesir had little respect for battle exploits that involved magic and trickery and even a modicum of intelligence and Loki had little respect for plans as unimaginative as bashing things with weapons until they were dead. So he would sit quietly as close to an exit as possible and leave as soon as it would go unnoticed.

Now he had new reasons to avoid them, because that many people having the chance to inspect his rendition of the Allfather increased the chance that someone would figure him out. For all of that, he only considered a few people actually risks for figuring out the truth. The general mindset of the Aesir, one of war over subtlety, made people unlikely to assume that anything was other than it appeared. Heimdall, with his sight, was a risk, and the Lady Sif, the warrior Sif, who saw the world as she made it, not as others said it was, they were the most likely to see the truth.

But then this mortal girl showed up and everyone would expect Loki, no, they would expect Odin, to play host. Or to get angry and send her back to Midgard, but he couldn't do that without reopening the Bifrost, which he couldn't do without risk of lots of really bad things happening to him. So playing host it was, at least until he could figure out a better solution that didn't force him to be in the public eye.

Of course, Loki knew that timing was in his favor. The Allfather had just lost Frigga, and Loki would like to think that his perceived loss of Loki would have also had an effect on the man, at least a little.

He felt guilty for using Frigga's death to his own advantage, and annoyed with himself for feeling guilty. Loki didn't do guilt, couldn't afford to with everything that had happened. And it wasn't like she was his real mother anyway. Now if he could just convince himself of that.

* * *

The aptly named great hall was already buzzing with life when Darcy arrived.

"Here you are Lady Darcy," Volla said.

Darcy laughed at being called Lady Darcy. Fandral waved her over to a seat near the front of the room. Odin was seated on a throne, albeit a much smaller version than the one in the throne room, at the head of the table. He was keeping to himself mostly.

"Aren't you eating?" Darcy asked Volla, seeing the older woman was not following her.

"In the Great Hall? The servants don't eat with the warriors." She said it like it was the most obvious thing.

"Oh. Thanks for helping me find the room them."

"It was my pleasure," Volla said, bowing as she took her leave. Darcy scrambled over to the empty seat Fandral indicated.

"This is amazing," Darcy said, waving at the roast boar on her plate. She spent most of her time over the past few years alternating between S.H.I.E.L.D. cafeterias and ramen noodles and cereal in her dorm and various labs. It was a little odd for breakfast but good food was not exactly a staple of her life so she was enjoying it for all it was worth. "I was kind of afraid you might eat lutefisk or something."

"Lutefisk?" Sif asked.

"Fish soaked in lye, I think," Darcy explained.

"People shouldn't treat food like that," Volstagg objected.

"You don't have to worry about that here," Odin assured her. "People who try to poison the Allfather are summarily executed."

Fandral dragged his thumb across his throat theatrically in a gesture surprisingly similar to earth's version.

"No really, Eric claims it's an actual food," Darcy persisted. "It's Scandinavian so I kind of thought you might eat it because of the whole Viking thing."

"Thankfully not. It sounds terrible," Fandral said. "I'm pretty sure I would cheerfully mistake it for poison and have anyone caught trying to feed it to me at least arrested" Volstagg, Sif, and Darcy laughed. Even Odin's lips twitched up in a very brief smile.

"Why did you come here?" Odin asked.

"I told you. On Earth, y'know, Midgard, I'm extraneous, one of many who do my job. I'm easily replaceable. Like, really, really easily. But here I'm the only one getting to see sights that only perhaps a few Midgardians have ever laid eyes on. I'm not one of many, I'm a pioneer."

"So in your quest for importance you decide to move to a realm where literally everyone is stronger than you?" he asked, sounding almost amused.

"What's that got to do with it? I don't measure my worth by how much I can carry," she said, unconcerned. For an instant a genuine smile flashed on the All-Father's face, then was gone again, replaced by a more generic sort of smile, like a mask that slipped for a moment.

"In that case you are in a very small minority here on Asgard," Odin said.

"Before coming here I spent most of my time with people who measured their worth in their science skill. I'm used to being odd intern out."

"If you don't mean to fight, and you don't mean to study, what do you plan on doing here?" Sif inquired.

"I'm guessing ambassador isn't really a common job here," Darcy said, trying to figure out how to explain the concept. "And I am here to study; I'm just studying culture instead of physics. I had hoped to be able to call S.H.I.E.L.D. with a heads up if any unfriendly aliens were heading their way, but the whole communications blackout isn't going to work with that. But mostly I want to put a face on Midgard, make things like the invasion of New York less likely to happen, ask for assistance if we need it."

"How do you want to do that?" Odin asked.

"I was kind of hoping for an office, nothing fancy, just a small room to set up in. I'll take notes and stuff, and talk to people. I'll study what I can and learn how things work here. And I'll talk to anyone who's curious, y'know, about Earth, about Midgard.

"Will that not encourage invasion? Your world is not well defended," Odin pointed out.

"I don't know the details of our defenses, or anything that would actually help would-be conquerors, but I do know that we've been invaded before and we won." She had enough tact not to mention Loki by name. "We've got the Avengers, we've got your son, the god of Thunder, and I'm hoping someday we'll have an official alliance with Asgard. We don't have the fancy magic of some places, and we don't have physical strength of others, but we're surprisingly scrappy when it comes right down to it."

"So I've gathered," Odin said.

"My king," Heimdall said, stepping up and bowing. "You directed me to bring it to your attention if I discovered any more shadows. There is one that needs immediate attention."

"Very well. Excuse me Lady Lewis," he said, standing from his seat. "Enjoy the remainder of the meal." He took a few steps and turned back. He flashed her a smile so brief it might not have been there at all. "And feel free to try the trout. I promise it contains no ingredients for making soap."

"That's a relief," she said with a grin.

* * *

Loki followed Heimdall down the hall at a brisk pace. He led the way past the more occupied parts of the city to some of the more damaged regions, where the workers wouldn't show up for perhaps another hour yet. There was something odd in the way the gatekeeper moved, something just off enough to make Loki nervous.

His mind raced through options. Was this where the mysterious thief was hiding? Had Heimdall discovered his trick and decided to take him somewhere secluded to confront him? No, that did not seem very much like Heimdall. There was something else wrong here.

Heimdall turned to face Loki, and the image shimmered and faded, the dark-skinned man fading to reveal a frost giant, taller than the Gatekeeper, with blue skin and blood red eyes, long dark hair pulled back and shaved in patterns along the sides, the curve of its form revealing it as a woman. She smiled, revealing sharp teeth.

"My king," the monster said with an oddly respectful nod

* * *

AN: All of my OCs, which there will be a reasonable number because I am developing two different worlds and societies, come directly from Norse mythology or from the comics. Volla is traditionally the handmaiden of Frigga.


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